Facsimile coin embedded in plastic, and method of making same



April 4, 1967 F. w. SMITH 3,312,197

FACSIMILE COIN EMBEDDED IN PLASTIC, AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME 1119a Oct. 15, 1965 United States Patent 3,312,197 FACSIMILE COIN EMBEDDED IN PLASTIC, AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Forrest W. Smith, 40931 Park Ave., Hernet, Calif. 92343 Filed Oct. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 496,604 3 Claims. (Cl. 120-82) The present invention relates to ornamental paperweights or other objects of a similar nature, such as bases for pen sets, wall plaques, and the like, which are intended to be kept on a desk or table top, where they serve as ornaments as well as being useful to hold down papers, or which may be mounted on .a wall for purely ornamental purposes.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an ornamental paperweight or the like made, at least in part, of transparent plastic and having one or more facsimile coins or metals embedded therein, which are replicas of coins that are rare or of considerable monetary value, and which would be extremely expensive if genuine. The embedded replica coins or other objects have the same color and finish as the original genuine article, and are such perfect facsimiles of the originals as to be almost indistinguishable therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved method of producing a transparent plastic object having a facsimile ooin embedded therein, using metal foil to produce the facsimile.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of making a facsimile coin for embedment in transparent plastic, or for any other display purpose where only the one side of the facsimile coin is visible, the said coin being visually almost indistinguishable from the genuine. At the same time, the replica coin is not in any sense a counterfeit coin, since it is nothing more than a one-sided shell of metal foil filled with plastic, and cannot possibly be mistaken for a genuine coin or used as legal tender.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an ornamental paperweight made of transparent plastic and having a facsimile of a silver dollar embedded therein, as contemplated by the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the same, taken at 22 in FIG. 1;

FIGURE 3 is a schema-tic view of a press, showing a genuine coin with a disk of foil resting thereon, prior to the operation of the press;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, showing the press in the closed position;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the facsimile coin produced by the pressing operation shown in FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional View through the facsimile coin of FIG. 5, after the flash has been removed from the edges and the back side has been tilled with plastic;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view through a mold for the paperweight shown in FIG. 1, in which the bottom half of the mold has been filled with transparent plastic in liquid form;

FIGURE 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7, showing the facsimile coin of FIG. 6 resting face down on the transparent plastic filling the bottom half of the mold; and

FIGURE 9 is another view of the mold, showing the top half of the mold cavity filled with opaque plastic, which forms the bottom half of the paperweight.

An ornamental paperweight embodying the principles of the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the draw- 3,312,197 Patented Apr. 4, 1967 ings, and is designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 10. The paperweight '10 may take any desired form, but is here shown as a flat block of plastic, which is generally rectangular in plan form, with sloping sides and rounded corners. The paperweight 10 is made up of two layers, consisting of a top layer 12 of transparent plastic, and a bottom layer 114 of opaque plastic. Embedded within the block, substantially at the interface between the top and bottom layers, is a facsimile coin 16, together with any printed copy or other ornamentation desired. The facsimile coin 16 is preferably a facsimile of some rare coin of great value, and instead of just one coin, as in FIG. 1, there may be any number of coins arranged in any desired pattern, or there may be two facsimiles of the same coin, showing opposite sides thereof. Also, instead of a coin, a facsimile '16 might be a replica of a metal or other metal objects or ornamental or sentimental value.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the facsimile coin 16 comprises a shallow, cap-shaped disk 18 of aluminum foil, or other metal foil, having the impression of a coin face, and edges having at least .a'portion of the impression of the milled edges of the coin. The cup-shaped disk 18 of aluminum foil is til-led on its back side with a thin backing of plastic 20.

The facsimile coin is made on a press 22, such as that shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The press 22 consists of a stationary table 24 and a vertically movable platen 26, having a thick rubber pad 28 mounted on its underside. A genuine coin 30 is placed on the table 24, and a flat, circular blank 31 of aluminum foil or other metal foil is placed on top of the coin. The foil blank 31 should have the same color and surface finish as the coin "30, and therefore a gold-colored foil would be used to make a replica of a gold coin, whereas silver-, nickel-, or coppercolored foils would be used to reproduce silver, nickel or copper coins. The surface finish is also important, and the degree of polish or satin texture of the coin should be faithfully reproduced in the foil.

Next, the platen 26 is brought down against the stationary table 24,, and the rubber pad 28 is pressed down against the foil blank 31, causing the latter to conform to the coin 30. The pressure of the pad 28 is such that the foil 31 takes a sharp impression of the coin face, picking up even such fine details as the date and mint stamp. As shown in FIG. 4, the foil 31 is drawn down over the edges of the coin and takes at least a portion of the impression of the edges of the latter. Excess foil is left in the form of a radial flange 32, which might be termed a flash. The flash 32 is trimmed off the blank, leaving a shallow, cup-shaped disk having the identical appearance of the original coin 30. The cup-shaped disk is then turned upside down, and its back side is filled with liquid casting resin 20, which hardens to reinforce the facsimile and make it rigid.

The paperweight 10 is made in a mold 34, and this is done by partially filling the mold cavity 36 with transparent casting resin 12, to about the half-way level, as shown in FIG. 7. The liquid resin may be a polyester monomer with added catalyst to cause it to harden, or it may consist of a mixture of a monomer and polymer, which co-act to polymerize the mass. After a short period of time, the polyester resins sets up into a gel, and at this point the facsimile coin 16 is placed face down on the surface thereof. The facsimile coin may be wetted on its surface with liquid resin to eliminate air bubbles, in which case the liquid resin would be allowed to harden slightly to hold the facsimile coin in place. Next, the bottom layer 14 of the paperweight is poured, filling the mold cavity 26 to the top. The resin of the bottom layer 14 is preferably opaque, and may be any desired color.

After the resin of the bottom layer 14 has hardened sufiiciently, the casting is removed from the mold 34. The last step is to cement a felt backing 38 to the bottom of the block, to protect the surface of the table or desk on which the paperweight may be placed.

While I have shown and described in considerable detail What I believe to be the preferred form of my invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made Without departing from the scope of the following claims. The term coin as used in the claims is intended to include any medal or similar object capable of replication by this process; while the term paperweight is intended to include any object of a similar nature, such as a base for a pen set, wall plaque, and the like.

I claim:

1. An ornamental paperweight or the like of transparent plastic having a facsimile coin embedded therein, comprising:

a bottom layer of opaque plastic surmounted by a top layer of transparent plastic;

a facsimile coin of metal foil embedded in said plastic substantially at the interface between said top and bottom layers;

said facsimile coin being cup-shaped and having the impression of one side only of the genuine coin of which it is a replica, and at least a portion of the edge of said facsimile coin bearing the impression of the edges of the genuine coin;

said facsimile coin having its open, cup-shaped side embedded in said opaque bottom layer of plastic, and only the impressed coin-faced side thereof being exposed to view through said transparent top layer of plastic.

2. An ornamental paperweight or the like comprisa block consisting of an opaque bottom layer surmounted by a top layer of transparent plastic;

a facsimile coin of metal foil embedded in said block substantially at the interface between said top and bottom layers;

said facsimile coin being cup-shaped and having the impression 'of one side only of the genuine coin of which it is a replica, and at least a portion of the edge of said facsimile coin bearing the impression of the edge of the genuine coin;

said facsimile coin being filled on its back side with casting resin which has hardened to strengthen the facsimile coin and make it rigid;

said facsimile coin being positioned so that only the impressed coin faced side thereof is visible through said transparent top layer of plastic.

3. An ornamental paperweight or the like comprising a three-dimensional simulated coin embedded in casting plastic between a transparent top layer, and an opaque bottom layer, said simulated coin being formed by pressing a blank of metal foil against one face of a genuine coin, said foil having approximately the same color and surface finish as said coin, said foil being pressed against said coin by a resilient rubber-like pad with sufiicient pressure to cause the foil to take the impression of the coin, and said foil being drawn down over the edges of the coin, and the excess material being then trimmed from around the edges of the impressed foil to produce a finished facsimile coin.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 279,795 6/1883 Pfieuger l2082 2,330,497 9/1943 Larmour 156292 2,427,870 9/1947 Mitchell 120--82 2,867,053 1/1959 Boor 4010 LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN ORNAMENTAL PAPERWEIGHT OR THE LIKE OF TRANSPARENT PLASTIC HAVING A FACSIMILE COIN EMBEDDED THEREIN, COMPRISING: A BOTTOM LAYER OF OPAQUE PLASTIC SURMOUNTED BY A TOP LAYER OF TRANSPARENT PLASTIC; A FACSIMILE COIN OF METAL FOIL EMBEDDED IN SAID PLASTIC SUBSTANTIALLY AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN SAID TOP AND BOTTOM LAYERS; SAID FACSIMILE COIN BEING CUP-SHAPED AND HAVING THE IMPRESSION OF ONE SIDE ONLY OF THE GENUINE COIN OF WHICH IT IS A REPLICA, AND AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE EDGE OF SAID FACSIMILE COIN BEARING THE IMPRESSION OF THE EDGES OF THE GENUINE COIN; SAID FACSIMILE COIN HAVING ITS OPEN, CUP-SHAPED SIDE EMBEDDED IN SAID OPAQUE BOTTOM LAYER OF PLASTIC, AND ONLY THE IMPRESSED COIN-FACED SIDE THEREOF BEING EXPOSED TO VIEW THROUGH SAID TRANSPARENT TOP LAYER OF PLASTIC. 